13 Apr 2024

Man arrested after teen targeted, run over multiple times

5:49 pm on 13 April 2024
The car that was seized by Waikato police in relation to an incident where a teenage boy was run over multiple times.

The car that was seized by Waikato police in relation to an incident where a teenage boy was run over multiple times. Photo: NZ Police

A 28-year-old man has been arrested after a teenager was targeted and run over multiple times in Waikato.

The 15-year-old boy was walking on Old Taupiri Road near Ngāruawāhia about 5pm on Wednesday when he was struck by a car and run over more than once, Detective Inspector Darrell Harpur said.

The boy remains in Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.

On Friday Harpur told RNZ the boy had "multiple fractures and breaks, internal injuries, surgeries... he's going to be in there for months".

He described it as a "particularly nasty incident".

A Waikato man has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was due to appear in the Hamilton District Court today.

Further arrests were not being ruled out.

The car believed to have been used in the incident was found by police on Thursday, abandoned in the carpark area of the Pukemokemoke Bush Reserve near Tauhei.

Police want to hear from anyone who may have seen a black Toyota Auris with the registration number NBE817 or who has dashcam footage, who were travelling in the Huntly area, on Great South Road and the Taupiri area on Wednesday afternoon, particularly between 4.30 and 5.30pm.

They also want to speak to anyone who saw the car or may have dashcam footage in and around Pukemokemoke Bush Reserve on Tauhei Road.